Padlocks are used in a variety of applications, including, for example, with enclosures such as lockers, storage sheds, and various gates and doors, to secure two or more hasps, latches or other structures together to restrict access to an item or enclosure. A conventional padlock includes a shackle having two ends secured within a lock body by one or more locking members when in a locked condition, with the locking members being disengageable from the shackle in the unlocked condition to allow movement of the shackle to separate one end (or leg) of the shackle from the lock body. Some padlocks include key operated arrangements in which insertion of a proper key in a keyway permits rotation of a key cylinder to release or disengage one or more locking members from the shackle. Other padlocks include a combination (or permutation) dial operable to rotate a plurality of tumbler discs to an unlocking orientation, in which the tumbler discs permit disengagement of one or more locking members from the shackle.
While many different locking arrangements may be employed in a padlock, in one embodiment, a padlock may include a pivoting rocker with a sliding latch that is secured in engagement with a corresponding notch in a short leg of a U-shaped shackle when the padlock is locked. When the padlock is unlocked, the rocker and latch are pivotable out of engagement with the shackle notch to permit withdrawal of the short leg of the shackle from the lock body. Examples of such padlocks are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,563,067 and 4,055,972, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference, to the extent that they are not conflicting with the present application.